Kovacevic: Hayes hasn't hit his ceiling, as even his successes show

Ke'Bryan Hayes swore oppo wasn't part of his plan.

I was the one who asked and, respectfully, I wouldn't have bought that before it happened and sure don't buy it now.

"No. I don't ever really think hit the ball to right field," the kid told me. Kept a straight face, too. "I just try to get pitches out over the middle of the plate and try to get them elevated, just try to hit them hard. If I end up hitting it to right, center or left, I can't control that. So I wasn't trying to hit the ball to right field."

Uh-huh. OK.

Let's set the stage for the Pirates' latest walkoff win, a 4-3 reversal of the Nationals on this crisp Friday night at PNC Park:

Down a run, Anthony Alford led off the bottom of the ninth against Washington's Patrick Murphy. He tends to be a K waiting to happen, but he'd homered in his previous at-bat, and he fought off this 0-2 count by rifling a single through the right side:

A wild pitch to Ben Gamel advanced Alford to second, and Gamel wound up walking. The rally heated.

Cole Tucker popped out, but another wild pitch advanced both runners. The rally sizzled.

Colin Moran, maybe the roster's most comfortable hitter with runners aboard, came up as a pinch-hitter. And that was enough for Washington's bench coach, Tim Bogar -- manager Dave Martinez was serving a one-game suspension for one of his pitchers throwing at a guy -- who turned to a lefty, Alberto Baldonado, to face Moran.

This wasn't smart. Because Hayes was in the hole, the three-batter rule meant Baldonado was stuck on that mound now, and Washington did still have the lead.

And yet, that Bogar move was outright brilliant compared to bringing in the lefty to face Moran and not bringing his infield up.

Oh, for real:

I mean, I don't even know what to say to that. Look where the shortstop fielded that. Not sure I've ever seen a manager bringing in a pitcher to face a single batter ... to concede the tying run?

The subject apparently never arose in Bogar's postgame session with Washington reporters. All he spoke to that inning was, "That's baseball. It is what it is."

I can't fathom what Bogar was thinking, but I do know what I was thinking: Hayes has to be licking his lips. In fact, he had to have begun licking the moment Baldonado emerged from the bullpen gate.

Because this: His .776 OPS against lefties is only 106 points higher than his production against righties.

And because this is where those hits go:

And also because, no matter what Hayes says, his batting practice sessions, his body language and all else betray that this is where he wants those hits to go.

As one wag up in the press box put it ...

Lo and behold, look what he'd do to Baldonado's 2-1 four-seamer:

Ha! Right over the bleeping bag!

Now, in fairness, that was the fourth straight offering that was away. It's eminently plausible that he went with the pitch where it was pitched. Or that he noticed that the Nationals, amid a comedy of strategic errors that inning, were pitching him away even as their infield was aligned up the middle.

Also this: “I wasn't trying to do too much. A single wins the game, so I'm just trying to hit something low and hard.”

Whatever the case -- and here's the salient point -- this extraordinary young talent still has a hell of a lot more to give. And on the list of stuff that matters from this 51-90 season, I'd say, one could place the continuing maturation of Hayes, particularly after missing half the season to a wrist injury, right near the top. Right below Bryan Reynolds' eruption and right above David Bednar's emergence. 

Hayes might not represent the reincarnation of Ted Williams, as it'd appeared upon his arrival in 2020 and right through this past spring training and right through that opening day bomb at Wrigley. But he's still slashing .258/.325/.377, and it's only the last of those -- slugging -- that's held him back, with only five home runs and only 24 of his 78 hits going for extra bases. And the lack of pop, it's critical to add, can almost certainly be blamed on the wrist, as the team's medical staff believes and as Hayes recently concurred. Because even once the wrist's fully healed, the strength of the individual, intricate ligaments can take months to reach peak levels.

As such, it's highly likely that what we're witnessing with Hayes of late -- 2 for 4 on this night with two RBIs, 10 for 24 within a six-game hitting streak -- is a simple climb back to normalcy.

Next stop: Pulling the ball. With power. The way he was before.

I asked Derek Shelton after this game how good he felt about Hayes facing the lefty in the ninth because of how he's hit to right, and the answer, I thought, was telling.

"Yeah, you feel really comfortable with it," Shelton began. "And I think the one thing that makes Ke’Bryan a good hitter -- and is going to make him an even better hitter -- is his ability to hit the ball that way. I think that young hitters, when they come to the big leagues with the ability to drive the ball that way and hit the ball hard that way, they can learn how to pull the ball. That’s going to be the next step in his development. And that’s not to say he can’t do it now. But the ability to drive the ball that way and hit the ball hard is really important."

Yep. And when pressed, Hayes, whose frustration boiled to the point where put himself out of the lineup a couple weeks ago by angrily slamming his helmet and hurting his right hand, sounded much the same tone when asked about driving the ball again.

"That comes with getting good pitches up in the zone and being there on time to be able to drive them, so yeah I'd like to drive the ball. Everyone would like to drive the ball a little more," he replied. "But I'm just trying to go out there and just hit it hard and, if it goes to where I can run for a double or triple or home run, then it will. Just more importantly, with all the time I missed and how this year has been up and down for me, I'm just trying to go up there for the rest of the season and have good at-bats, drive the ball hard, and where it goes it goes."

Just remember this. It'll all pay. If anything, his survival course this summer will someday make him that much more special.

• Remarkably, this was Hayes' first walkoff winner since "my senior year of high school, if I recall correctly. I can't remember."

He'll remember this scene ...

... shot by one of the team's videographers who's free to sprint onto the field in such scenarios.

• Steven Brault's rough 2021 took another tough turn, as he exited after two innings because of what the team termed "left arm discomfort." Shelton didn't have much to add other than describing the issue as "tightness" and adding that more would be known Saturday.

This was Brault's sixth start all season after he missed four months to a strained lat that originated in spring training.

• I can't discern if the bullpen's having a bounceback week or if the Tigers and Nationals just can't hit, but, regardless, the results have been there in taking three of four so far.

In this one, Cody Ponce followed Brault with three hitless innings, Sam Howard gave up the lone Washington run against a reliever in the form of Josh Bell's home run, and Nick Mears and Chad Kuhl finished it.

Ponce stood out in this one.

"The fastball command was good," Shelton said. "The cutter was good again. That’s the second time we’ve seen the cutter be good. I think the thing that really stood out was that he was attacking people. I think we’d seen him at times earlier in the year not be as aggressive."

Ponce was asked what was working for him and replied, "Jacob Stallings was working for me. When I called him out, he asked me what I wanted to throw. I said, ‘Whatever you want to call. I trust you, and I love ya. Let’s just go back to work.’ "

• The Bell home run, a solo shot into the visiting bullpen in the sixth that put Washington up, 3-1, might've been the most predictable blast of the year here, as well as the one that might've been the most mutually appreciated.

“I knew it was gone, just based off the feel and knowing the park," Bell would say.

It was his 26th of a solid rebound season.

He expressed being moved by a warm ovation from the crowd of 11,808 with his first at-bat, as well as a brief video tribute when he took the field.

“Different scenario, different team, but it was similar energy. I thought it was pretty special.”

• It was awesome to see him beforehand. A couple minutes of that:

Not pictured: Bell asked about a couple of his favorite Downtown establishments, spoke of taking his Washington teammates on a tour of the Roberto Clemente Museum in Lawrenceville, and lots and lots of hugs and handshakes.

Good ballplayer. Good dude. He's missed.

• I have no idea what to make of Alford. None. So I'll punt. When he makes contact, it's significant contact. When he doesn't ... yeah. Let the baseball brains have at this one.

• I have even less of an idea what to make of Wilmer Difo leading the majors in pinch-hits, with his 14th in this game.

• In Ben Cherington's weekly session with local reporters, he was asked about the urgency to avoid a sequel of 2021 in 2022 -- the subject of my column from this place a couple nights ago -- and this was his cool-as-ever response: “We need to be urgent about improvement, for sure. Absolutely. I believe we can improve at the major-league level next year. ... We feel urgency, literally every minute, to get better. And we believe if we stay focused on that, on every aspect of that, that will lead to better outcomes in time."

No idea what that means, so I'll just reiterate that better players are needed in Pittsburgh next season. That's an affordable objective that in no way infringes upon the broader ones.

• Gamel doesn't just need to be re-signed. He needs to run for mayor.

Even in a game where he goes 0 for 3, he works the timeliest walk and lays out like he did for this catch to rob Alcides Escobar in the second:

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Kevin Newman, 2B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
5. Jacob Stallings, C
6. Anthony Alford, LF
7. Ben Gamel, RF
8. Cole Tucker, SS
9. Steven Brault, LHP

And for Tim Bogar's Nationals:

1. Lane Thomas, CF
2. Alcides Escobar, SS
3. Juan Soto, RF
4. Josh Bell, 1B
5. Yadiel Hernandez, LF
6. Carter Kieboom, 3B
7. Luis Garcia, 2B
8. Riley Adams, C
9. Josh Rogers, LHP

THE SYSTEM

• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton

THE SCHEDULE

Wil Crowe (3-7, 5.94) faces 23-year-old righty Josiah Gray (0-2, 5.65) in the middle game of the series, one that'll be preceded by ceremonies commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which hit both Western Pennsylvania and Washington. Shelton spoke to that before this game, saying, “I think every year, this day has a special meaning. And when you’re playing a team that is in the nation’s capital in a place that was greatly affected -- I mean, the whole country was affected -- but affected directly, I think it does take a different meaning.”

I'm headed to Buffalo for football. Jarrod Prugar will cover the weekend here.

THE CONTENT

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